NORBURY, with the township of ROSTON, is a parish on the river
Dove, with a station on the Ashborne branch of the North Staffordshire
railway, 141¾ miles from London, 5 south-west from Ashborne
and 8 north from Uttoxeter, in the Western division of the county,
Appletree hundred and petty sessional division, Uttoxeter union and
county court district, rural deanery of Ashborne, archdeaconry of
Derby and diocese of Southwell. The church of St. Mary the Virgin,
situated on an eminence overlooking the valley of the Dove, is an
edifice of stone, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, north
aisle, divided from the nave by an arcade of four arches on massive
piers, two mortuary chapels on the south side and an embattled tower,
with pinnacles, between these chapels, the lower portion of which
forms a south porch, and over the entrance is a clock, placed in 1889
by S. W. Clowes esq. : the tower contains 3 bells, the first and third
dated respectively 1589 and 1739 ; the second, which is cracked, bears
the inscription, "Sonat hec celis dulcissima vox Gabrielis :"
the chancel, unusually large in proportion to the rest of the building,
was built between 1370 and 1380, at the end of the Decorated period,
by Henry Kniveton, then rector: the chief glory of this church is
its old stained and painted glass, but the original glass of the east
window disappeared in the last century, and it is now filled with
glass gathered from all parts of the nave; on some quarries the initials
N and A show them to have been put in by Nicholas and Alice Fitzherbert,
circa. 1450 ; other portions from the south-west chapel bear
the initials of John Fitzherbert, circa. 1500 ; the figures
of the twelve apostles were removed from various windows of the north
aisle, and those of saints from the south-west chapel; in the tracery
lights are several emblazoned shields of the Fitzherberts, variously
impaled and transferred from the clerestory windows : there is much
interesting glass still remaining in the south chapel, chiefly figures
of saints, its south window commemorating the second marriage of Nicholas
Fitzherbert ; the eight windows in the side walls still, for the most
part, retain their original glass, circa. 1350, covered
with Decorated scroll work and admirably-conceived interlaced patterns
with shields of arms, representing the most celebrated of the contemporary
nobility and gentry of the Lancastrian party at the beginning of the
14th century ; the west window has also seven shields and some other
devices : there is a finely-carved chancel screen, altar table and
reredos of oak, some good carved oak benches, several piscinæ
and three sedilia, without canopies : the church plate dates from
1773, and was presented by the Rev. S. Mills, then rector : most ancient
monument in the church is a mutilated slab on the chancel floor, with
foliage in slight relief, circa. 1250 : in the centre of the
chancel, in fine preservation, is the recumbent effigy of Sir Henry
Fitzherbert, knight, 5th lord of Norbury, who came into his inheritance
in 1267 and rebuilt the manor house ; the figure is clad in chain
armour, with a hood of the same over the head, and a surcoat, the
feet resting upon a lion couchant; on an alabaster slab to the left
of the above is the incised figure of a lady in a reticulated cap,
representing Alis Bothe, the first wife of Nicholas Fitzherbert; on
the right side is an alabaster slab, with the incised figure of a
priest, vested and bearing a chalice in his hands, representing Henry
Prynce, rector here from 1466 to 1500, and the constructor of the
flat Perpendicular roof of the chancel: on the south side of the chancel
is the fine slab altar tomb of Nicholas Fitzherbert, ob. 1473,
bearing a recumbent figure of the knight, in plate armour, with a
collar of suns and roses, his head supported by a helmet and his feet
resting upon a lion; the two sides have small figures under canopies
representing the children of his two families, in various costumes;
the east end is blank, but at the west end are two female figures,
perhaps of his two wives: on the north side of the chancel is an altar
tomb of alabaster to Ralph Fitzherbert, ob. 1483, son of the
foregoing Sir Nicholas, and his lady; the execution of this tomb is
very fine and on the top are the recumbent figures of the knight,
in armour, bare-headed and wearing a Yorkist collar with a boar pendent,
and of his wife Elizabeth, attired in a bodice and gown and wearing
a neck chain with the pendent figures of the Virgin and Child; two
small dogs lie at her feet, and figures of angels supporting the pillow
upon which her head rests ; the canopied sides of the tomb are occupied
by effigies of their children in high relief, bearing shields : on
the south side of Nicholas Fitzherbert's tomb is a white marble floor
slab, with the incised figure of a female wrapped in a winding sheet,
and representing Elizabeth, wife of Ralph Fitzherbert : between the
two altar tombs is a large
blue stone, with palimpsest brass figures of Sir Anthony Fitzherbert,
knight, and Dorothy his wife; he was born at Norbury in 1470, made
a serjeant-at-Iaw in 1511, knighted in 1516, and in 1532 appointed
a justice of the Common Pleas ; he died in 1538 ; in the chancel is
also a stone inscribed to Ann, wife of William Fitzherbert esq. (1653)
: the Early English font consists of a plain basin on a base of clustered
shafts, arranged so as to form a square : on the wall of the aisle
is a monument to Margaret, eldest daughter of William Bowyer (1737)
and Thomas, his son (1742) : in the south chapel at the south-west
corner is a plain altar tomb, with alabaster sides, and on the upper
slab of blue marble an inscription in brass to John Fitzherbert, 12th
Lord of Norbury, and eldest son of Ralph (1530) : in 1841 the church
was restored at a considerable cost, and has 200 sittings : the churchyard
contains a few gravestones of some age, among which is one to the
Rev. J. Drope (1629), a former rector; there is also an ancient and
majestic yew. The register dates from the year 1686 for all entries,
and is in good condition. The living is a rectory, average tithe rent-charge
£175, with 70 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of S.
W. Clowes esq. and held since 1871 by the Rev. William Hunter B.D.
late fellow of St. John's College, Oxford. There are Wesleyan and
Primitive Methodist chapels.

Charities :-Thomas Williams, in 1687, devised to the Rev. Anthony
Trollope and others, two closes in Roston containing 11 acres, the
rent of which goes towards the school, in consideration of which
the children are taught free : Robert
Bill, in 1728, gave a close in Roston containing 4A. 0R. 28p. called
the Poor's croft, with an addition of two small allotments set out
by the Inclosure Commissioners; the proceeds of these lands are
distributed to the poor on New Year's day: Greensmith's Charity
provides a yearly sum of £2 for the poor, and is paid by the
rector as being charged on property in Roston purchased by Samuel
Evans, by whom the sum was paid in 1786 : there are other small
charities.

The seat of Samuel William Clowes esq. D.L., J.P. situated in this
parish, is a handsome modern building, standing upon an eminence and
commanding extensive views. Norbury Old Hall, formerly the residence
of the Fitzherberts, contains some good oak panelling and stained
glass; it is now unoccupied. The soil is mixed ; subsoil, chiefly
clay and gravel. The land is chiefly kept in pasture for dairy produce.
The acreage is 2,240; rateable value, £4,373 ; the population
in 1881 was 399.

Free School (mixed), erected in 1832 & since enlarged to hold
75 children; average attendance, 54 ; with an endowment for the free
instruction of children in accordance with the devise of Thomas Williams,
specified above; Frank Thomasson, master